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Some folks talk of "karma." We Southern folk are quicker to say "what goes around, comes around." The story started in early April of this year, when Harold Bowman of Glenvar Heights happened upon a billfold on a toy aisle in Salem's Goodwill store. "It was stuffed with $54 - obviously no toy," he said.

It also contained a kid-size compact mirror, some gift cards to bookstores and cash register receipts from Christiansburg stores. But no owner's identification.

Bowman, 76, started a good deed that would require some detective work. He called the stores about the gift cards, but they were unable to track to whom the cards had been sold.

But there was one more clue in the billfold: a library card for the Black Creek Community Library in Wilson, N.C. He then contacted the librarian and gave his identification, so that the library patron could get in touch with him.

By the end of April, the mystery had been solved, and Jessica Mathis of North Carolina had her billfold back. While visiting her grandmother (who lives in Christiansburg and works at Salem's National College of Business & Technology; Bowman didn't have her name), they had gone on a shopping trip to Salem.

"The saving grace of this little girl was that she was a reader with a library card," Bowman said.

Good 'nuff. But, get this: Just one week before Jessica lost her own billfold, she had found and returned a billfold with almost the same amount of money in it ($60). "Not only did she get a $10 reward for returning it, she later had her own billfold returned to her," Bowman said, clearly delighted.

And he was rewarded for his own good deed: Jessica wrote him a letter, saying how much she loved to read and how sorry she was for being hard to find. She also sent him a photograph of herself, and three packages of flower seeds.

They were blue morning glories, and Bowman promptly planted them in his garden. "Every morning, all this summer, at least one of them is open" to greet him, so he smiles to think of that "sweetie pie," Jessica, he said.

"And I'll take the seeds and I'll plant them again next year. I feel a connection with a person from plants. Why, I have a honey locust tree at my place here. My [late] wife got honey locust seeds at the 1939 World's Fair; she brought them back to Roanoke, where they grew into a tree at our house there. Now another honey locust from that tree in Roanoke grows all these years later here in Glenvar Heights.

"This little girl did a good thing and it came right back to her."

And Harold Bowman did likewise - and will have a reminder in his garden, for summers, forever.

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Speaking of libraries: The Salem Public Library needs volunteers to shelve books, videos, etc. Why, it's a fine way to get some exercise for free, while helping the community. If your knees aren't up to that effort, the Friends of the Salem Library have other volunteer opportunities. And don't forget the bargains-galore book sale at the library at Olde Salem Days, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sept. 11. Call the Salem Public Library at 375-3089.

Emily Paine Carter's Front Porch column appears regularly in the Neighbors Salem edition.